(Post)memory digitally constructed : survivors’ interactive biography - opportunities and threats

The purpose of the article is to provide a critical discussion of the USC Shoah Dimensions in Testimony project initiated and implemented by the USC Shoah Foundation. The article specifically focuses on the opportunities and threats presented by the ongoing dynamic development of the foundation’s pro-ject. Drawing on Marianne Hirsch’s concept of postmemory, which explores the spatial and temporal distance that separates successive generations from trau-matic events, the article examines whether interactive biographies of survivors can be regarded as objects of postmemory that "preserve" (?) witnesses and their stories for future generations. In addition, the article analyzes how such virtual autobiographical identity narratives allow survivor to externalize their experi-ence and transfer memory to the recipients of their testimonies. Ethical consid-erations regarding the "use" of near-holographic recordings of survivors are also discussed. Based on the collected research material, the article further explores how memory mediated by these objects affects the perception of past events.